After New York's win over the Charlotte Bobcats on Thursday night,
Amar'e Stoudemire was asked about how the Knicks stack up with their
first-round opponents, the Miami Heat.

Naturally, he cited the team's depth.

"We have incredible depth,'' Stoudemire said, as quoted by Marc Berman
of the New York Post. "Our bench has
been phenomenal for us all season long. We're a much better defensive team than
we were before. We have so many threats offensively to match their offensive
threats. So it's pretty much even as far as our startling lineup and I think
our second unit is a little bit stronger."

Stoudemire may have struck a chord.

For all of the Heat's advantages—specifically the fact that Erik
Spoelstra gets to coach LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh—they're not an
incredibly deep team.

Sure, they have a nice rotation at point guard with Mario Chalmers and
Norris Cole and role players like Mike Miller, James Jones and Shane Battier
have contributed all year. But Miami doesn't have a bench like New York
does—one that features J.R. Smith, Steve Novak, defensive ace Jared Jeffries,
Landry Fields and veteran point guard Mike Bibby.

And while that might not sound overly impressive, remember that Miami
has yielded 32.4 points per game to opponents' second units this season, which
is better than only nine teams. Meanwhile the Heat are getting just 18.2 points
per game out of their bench, which ranks 27th in the NBA.

Making matters worse for the Heat is the fact that they've conceded the
perimeter to focus on defending the paint. As
previously mentioned in this blog, the Heat given up more 3-pointers this
season than any other team outside of the Denver Nuggets. Meanwhile Mike
Woodson's team has hit nearly eight 3-pointers per game this season, which is
good enough for fourth place in the league.

Furthermore, the Knicks reserves have hit 4.5 3-pointers per game this
season on a league-high 12.7 attempts per game. Only the San Antonio Spurs'
second unit has made as many 3-pointers as New York's has; and only Denver has
yielded more treys to opponents' reserves than Miami has (3.2 per game).

The Knicks do risk relying too heavily on the 3-pointer, but that's the
way the team has played all season. An astounding 24 percent of New York's
points have come off of 3-pointers, which is a higher percentage than all but
four teams. So to back away from that strategy now, particularly against a Heat
team that has allowed just 34.3 points per game in the paint (fourth best),
would be going away from New York's strength.

The Knicks may not have beaten the Heat yet this season, but Woodson's
team has strengths where Spoelstra's team has weaknesses. Tyson Chandler,
Carmelo Anthony and Stoudemire aren't as talented as South Beach's Big 3, so
it's increasingly important that New York's remaining nine players outperform
Miami's.